Sole fitting machine



Dec. 12, 1933.

F. E. BERTRAND SOLE FITTING MACHINE Filed April 17, 1931 3 Sheets-Sheet l Dec. 12, 1933. F E BERTRAND 1,938,682

sous FITTING MACHINE Filed April 17, 1931 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 w 50 B 1gtZ. A

Dec. 12, 1933. F. E. BERTRAND SOLE FITTING MACHINE Filed April 17, 1931 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 l-l L a\\\\\ rgimp V V V J WMMHM Patented Dec. 12, 1933 UNITED STATES SOLE FITTING MACHINE Frederic E. Bertrand, Lynn, Mass, assignor to United Shoe Machinery Corporation, Paterson, N. 3., a corporation of New Jersey Application April 17, 1931. Serial No. 530,902

24 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in sole fitting machines and is herein illustrated as embodied in a channeling machine of a type commonly used in making double-lipped insoles.

It is customary to employ channeling machines of the'type referred to inmaking Economy insoles and insoles for welt shoes, such insoles having both an inner lip and an outer lip each of which extends around the forepart and along both lateral margins of the shank portion of the insole. In fitting soles for use in the manufacture of certain types of shoes, however, it has been proposed to form an inner lip only at the shank and an outer lip only at the forepart of the sole and it is one object of the present invention to provide means for producing this result in a single handling of the sole. With this object in view and in accordance with one feature of the present invention the 29 illustrated machine comprises a sole fitting machine having two members adapted to form respectively an inner lip and an outer lip in a sole, and means operative during relative movement between a sole and said members to render said members alternately effective to form an irmer lip only in one portion and an outer lip only in another portion of the sole. The illustrated machine is provided with a channel knife which is adapted to cut obliquely into the face 30 of a sole to form an inner channel and a channel fiap the sole margin and an'edge or lip knife which isadapted to cut inwardly from the sole edge to form an outer lip and feather in the o sole margin, the channel knife being normally in lowered or operative position and the lip knife being normally in raised or inoperative position, and operator-controlled mechanism is provided for shifting the relative positions of the knives during the operation of the machine.

In theoperation of the illustrative machine, a sole is introduced into the machine and fed pastthe knives in such a manner that the lower channel knife operates first to cut an inner channel along one lateral margin of the shank portion of the sole. When this channeling operation has proceeded to the vicinity of the ball line, the channel knife israised and the lip knife is lowered, whereupon the latter operates to form an edge lip only around the forepart of the sole. When the lip cutting operation reaches the vicinity of the ball line at the opposite lateral margin of the sole the lip knife is raised and the channel knife is lowered, whereupon the latter functions to form a channel flap only along that margin of the shank portion of the ill sole. After the channel lip cuts have been made as above described, the channel flaps andcdge lip are raised so that a lasted shoe upper may be secured thereto. To insure against any interruption in the continuity of the lip or rib thus 5 formed, it may be desirable to have the portions of the channel flaps at the forward extremity of the shank overlap the rear portions of the edge lip which extend around the forepart of the sole. To the attainment of this result, in the illustrated machine, provision is made whereby, at the lateral margin of the sole first operated upon, the lip knife is lowered into operative position just before the channel knife is raised from the work, while at the opposite lateral margin of the sole the channel knife is lowered into operative position just before the lip knife is raised from the Work. Thus, the channelcuts are made to terminate forwardly of the rear extremities of the lip cuts and consequently when the lip and channel flaps are raised the rear extremities of thelip will overlap the forward extremities of the channel flaps and a single continuous upstanding rib will be provided to which the lasted upper materials may conveniently be secured. It is tobe recognized, therefore, that invention further resides in the provision of means constructed and arranged to delay the retraction of the operatively positioned knife until after the inoperatively positioned knife has been moved into position to operate upon the work.

The invention further consists in features of construction and in combinations and arrangements of parts ereinafter described and claimed.

The invention will be explained with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. l is a side elevational View of a machine embodying the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1 but showing the operative parts in a different position;

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view of a portion of the head of the machine;

Fig. 4 is a view in front elevation of a portion of the machine;

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of an insole'illustrating the character of the work done by the machine; and

Figs. 6 and "I are sectional views taken, respectively, along the lines VIVI and VII-VII of Fig. 5.

The invention is shown in' the accompanying drawings as embodied in a channeling machine of the type disclosed in United'States'Letters Patent No. 1,023,801, granted April 23, 1912, upon application of the present inventor. For a de scription of the general organization and operation of the illustrated machine reference may be had to that patent since only so much of the machine will be described in the present application as is considered necessary for the purpose of clearly disclosing the present invention.

In the drawings, 10 indicates a sole supporting table which is carried by a slide 12 that is movable vertically in a guideway 14 formed in the lower horizontally offset portion of a frame or head 16 which is bolted to the top of a suitable base 18 which supports the driven parts of the machine. The work table 1 0 is held in the normally operative or raised position shown in Figs. 1 and 2 by means of a spring 20 and is capable of being depressed to facilitate insertion or removal of the work by connections with a treadle (not shown), these connections including a treadle rod 22.

The cutting tools are supported by a carrier 24 which is mounted for oscillation about horizontally alined cone bearings 26 for the purpose of moving the cutting tools in the direction of feed of the work. This oscillation of the carrier 24 is produced by suitable connections with a cam 28 on the main shaft 30 of the machine to which is fixedfa pulley 32 that is adapted to be driven by a belt connection with a suitable source of power.

The cutting tools comprise a channel knife 34 and an edge or lip knife 36, the latter having a lip trimming blade 37 associated therewith. The channel knife 34 is secured in a knife block 38 which is supported on the lower end of a vertical slide 40 (Fig. 3) mounted in the carrier 24. A similar slide 42 mounted beside the slide 40 supports a holder 44 (Figs. 1 and 2) to which the edge knife 36 is clamped. The two slides 40 and 42 are retained in the carrier 24 by a cover plate 46 and are pressed downwardly toward the work table 10 by means of springs 48 (Fig. 1) which act upon the upper ends of screws 50 projecting from the slides. Associated with the knives 34 and 36 are suitable presser gages 52 and 54 for determining the depth of the cuts made by the knives and a yieldingly mounted work retainer 56 is located above the work table for engaging the upper surface of the work. A suitable edge gage 56 is provided for guiding the work. The sole is fed upon the forward movement of the knife carrier 24 by means of the presser gages 52 and 54, the knives 34 and 36, at this time, riding over the surface of the sole, and when the limit of the stroke of the knife carrier is reached the workretaining foot 56 is moved down into contact with the sole to hold it against movement. As the knife carrier 24 moves backwardly the knives in the sole move toward the work retaining foot 56 to cut the channel and slit the edge of the sole.

In order to provide for the desired raising and lowering of the charmel knife 34.and the lip knife 36 a knife lifter is provided comprising cams 60 and 62 secured to the upper end of an oscillatory arm 64. The cam 60 is arranged to support the lip knife 42 by engagement with a pin 66 carried by the slide 42, and the cam 62 is arranged to support the channel knife slide 40 by engagement with a pin 68 on the latter slide. As best shown in 3, the earns 60 and 62 are secured to the arm 64 with provision for vertical adjustment, to vary the depth of the channel and lip cuts, by, means of bolts treadle (not shown) 70 and '72, respectively, which extend through vertically elongated slots 74 and 76 in the arm 64. The arm 64 is pivotally mounted upon a stud 77 carried by the cover plate 46 and is oscillated for the purpose of operating the cams 60 and 62 by treadle-operated mechanism including a rock shaft '78 journaled in suitable bearings in the head 16. Secured. to one end of the rock shaft 78 is a depending crank arm 80 the lower end of which is connected by means of a link 82 with the cam arm 64. As shown, the link is connected with the crank arm 80 and with the cam arm 64 by means of ball and socket joints adapted to accommodate the oscillatory movement of the knife carrier 24. At the opposite end of the rock shaft '78 is secured an arm 84 which is connected by a rod 86 with a foot Normally, the cam arm 64 is yieldingly maintained in the vertical position in which it appears in Fig. 1 by means of a spring 88 connected with an arm 90 secured to the rock shaft '78. As shown, the spring 88 encircles a rod 92 which is pivotally connected at its upper end to the arm 90 and the lower end of which is arranged to slide in a guideway 94 formed on the head 16, the spring being confined between the guideway and a shoulder 96 on the rod 92. The normal or vertical position of the cam arm 64 is determined by engagement of the arm with a stop lug 100 on the cover plate 46. Upon depression of the treadle connected with the treadle rod 86 the cam arm 64 is adapted to be shifted from its normal vertical position to the inclined position shown in 2, the latter position being determined by engagement of the cam arm with a stop lug 102 on the cover plate 46.

As shown in Figs. 1 and 2 the cam 60 is provided with a high portion 108 and a low portion 110, while the cam 62 is provided with a high position determined by engagement of the pin 68 with the low portion 114 of the cam 62.

vWhen the cam arm 64 is shifted into the inin the lowered position determined by engagement of the pin 66 with the low portion 110 of the cam 60. The construction and arrangement of the earns 60 and 62 are further such that, in reversing the relative positions of the channel and lip knives, the knife which occupies the raised position will be lowered into cutting position before the other knife is raised. Because of this arrangement the channel and edge cuts are caused to overlap for a short distance in those localities in the vicinity of the ball line where the relative positions of the knives are changed. I

-To insert the work the table 10 is lowered by depressing the treadle connected with the rod 22 and after a sole has been placed on the table with its edge against the edge gage 58 the table is permitted to rise. This causes the upper face of the sole to engage the channel knife 34 which is normally in lowered or operative position. The sole is presented to the machine heel end first with the left-hand edge of the sole (i. e., the portion marked L in Fig. 5 of the drawings) against the edge gage. Themachine is then started under power and the knife carrier 24 moves back and forth'in the line of work feed. The movement of the knife carrier causes the channel knife to bury itself in the sole to an extent permitted by the presser gage 52, the knife cutting during the movement of the knife carrier toward the right in Fig. 4 and the work being fed by the action of the presser gages during the movement of the knife carrier toward the left as described in Letters Patent No. 1,023,801, hereinbefore referred to. At the start of the operation upon the sole, the channel knife 34, being in lowered position, will cut a channel and form a channel flap along the left side of the shank portion of a sole, as indicated at 120 in Fig. 5. The lip knife 36, being raised at this time, will be inoperative and consequently no edge lip will be formed at the shank portion of the sole. As the sole is being fed in the direction of the arrow 122 in Fig. 5, and as the portion of the sole in the vicinity of the ball line reaches the field of operation of the knives, the channel knife is raised and the edge knife 36 is lowered and begins to operate to s'lit the sole edge so as to form a feather and an edge lip, such as the feather 123 and the lip 124. As the sole continues to be fed the feather 123 and the lip 124 are continued from the vicinity of the ball line at the left-hand margin of the sole around the toe to a point in the vicinity of the ball line at the right-hand margin of the sole. The relative positions of the edge and channel knives are then again reversed, the edge knife being raised and the channel knife being lowered so that the feather 123 and edge lip 124 are terminated and the forming of a channel fiap is started at the right-hand side of the sole. During the continued feeding of the sole a channel flap, such as that indicated at 126 in Fig. 5, is formed along the right-hand margin of the shank portion of the sole. At the left-hand margin of the sole the edge knife is lowered some- What before the channel knife is raised, while at the right-hand margin of the sole the edge knife is not raised until somewhat after the channel knife has been lowered, thus causing the rear extremity of the lip 124 to be located somewhat behind the .forward extremities of the channel flaps 120 and 126. In other words, the channel and edge cuts are caused to overlap for a short distance in the vicinity of the ball line, as indicated at 128 in Fig. 5. As a'result of this construction, when the channel flaps and the edge lip have been raised to an upright position preparatory to attachment of the sole to the upper materials of the shoe the front extremities of the channel fiapswill overlap the rear extremities of the edge lip and thus a single continuous rib will be provided to receive the sole attaching fastenings. In Fig. 5 the edge lip 124 is shown as having been trimmed by the trimming blade 37 so that the margin of the lip is spaced inwardly from the margin of the sole.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

'1. In a sole fitting machine, two members adapted to be moved alternately into operative position to form respectively an outer lip and an inner lip in a sole, and means operative during relative movement between a sole and said members to move said members relatively to each other to adapt the machine to form an inner lip only at one portion and an outer lip only at another portion of the sole.

2. In a sole fitting machine, two members 35 adapted to form respectively an outer lip and an inner lip in a sole, and means operative during relative movement between a sole and said members to render said members alternately effective to form an inner lip only in one portion 99 and an'outer lip only in another portion of the sole.

3. In a sole fitting machine, two knives adapted to be moved alternately into operative position to form respectively a feather and lip along '95 the margin of a sole and a channel and channel flap spaced inwardly from said lip, and means operative during relative movement between the sole and said knives to move said knives relatively to each other to adapt the 100 machine to form a channel and channel fiap only at one portion and a lip and feather only at another portion of the sole. 7

4. In a sole fitting machine, twomembers adapted to be moved alternately into operative 5 position to form respectively an outer lip and an inner lip in a sole, and means operative during relative movement between a sole and said members to move said members relatively to each other to adapt the machine to form an inner lip only at one portion and an outer lip only at another portion of the sole and to form both an inner lip and an outer lip at a third portion of the sole.

5. In a sole fitting machine, a normally operatively positioned member for forming an inner lip in a sole, a normally inoperatively positioned member for forming an outer lip in a sole, and means for shifting the relative positions of said members during movement of a sole through knives during the feeding of the sole to cut a channel fiap only at the shank and an edge lip only at the forepart of the sole.

7. In a sole fitting machine, a knife for slitting the edge of a sole to form an outer lip and a knife for cutting along an inner marginal portion of the sole to form a channel and a channel flap as the sole is fed past said knives, and mechanism for relatively moving said knives during the feeding of the sole to form a channel and a channel flap only at the shank and an outer lip only at the forepart of the sole.

8. In a sole fitting machine, a normally operatively positioned member for forming an inner lip in a sole, a normally inoperatively positioned member for forming an outer lip in a sole, and means for shifting the relative positions'of said members during movement of a sole through 145 the machine to adapt the machine to form an inner lip only at the shank and an outer lip only at the forepart of a sole and both an inner and an outer lip near the junction of the shank and the forepart of the sole.

9. In a channeling machine, a .vertically movable and normally raised edge knife, a vertically movable channel knife normally occupying a lowered position, and means movable in one 5 direction to lower the edge knife and to raise the channel knife and movable in another direction to lower the channel knife and to raise the edge knife.-

10.- In a channeling machine, a normally raised edge knife, a channel knife normally occupying a lowered position, and neans movable in one direction to lower the edge knife and thereafter to raise the channel knife and movable in another direction to lower the channel knife and thereafter to raise the edge knife.

ll. In a channeling machine, a normally lowered channel knife, an edge knife and a lip trimming knife normally occupying raised positions, and means movable in one .direction to lower the edge knife and the trimming knife and to raise the channel knife and movable in another direction to lower the channel knife and raise the edge knife and the trimming knife.

it 12. In a sole fitting machine, a normally raised edge knife, a channel knife normally occu pying a lowered position, and means operative first to lower the edge knife and raise the channel knife and thereafter to lower the channel knife and raise the edge knife.

13. In a solefitting machine, a normally raised edge knife, a channel knife. normally occupying a lowered position, and means operative first to lower the edge knife and raise the channel knife and thereafter to lower the channel knife and raise the edge knife, said means being constructed and arranged to delay the raising of the channel knife until after the edge knife has been lowered and to delay the raising of the edge knife until after the channel knife has been lowered.

14. In a channeling machine, a channel knife slide, a channel knife carried by said slide for forming an inner channel and a channel flap in a sole, an edge knife slide, an edge knife carried by said slide for forming an outer lip in a sole, means for maintaining the channel knife slide normally in lowered position and the lip knife slide in raised position and for shifting the relative positions of said knife slides during the omration of the machine.

' 15, In a channeling machine, a normally lowered inner lip knife and a normally raised outer lip knife, means for feeding a sole past said knives, and means for raising the inner lip knife and lowering the outer lip knife during the feed of the sole.

16. In a sole fitting machine, a normally lowered knife for forming an inner marginal lip in a sole, and a normally raised knife for forming an outer marginal lip in a sole, means for feeding a sole past said knives, and means operative while the sole is being fed to lower said outer lip forming knife and thereafter to raise said inner lip forming knife.

17. In a sole fitting machine, means for forming an inner channel in the shank portion and an outer channel in the forepart of a sole, and

means for making the inner channel terminate forwardly of the rear extremity of the outer channel.

18. In a channeling machine, a normally lowered channel knife and a normally raisededge knife, means for feeding a sole past said knives, and means for raising the channel knife and lowering the edge knife during the feed of the sole, said means being constructed and arranged to delay the raising of the channel knife until after the edge knife has been lowered.

19. In a sole fitting machine, a normally operatively positioned knife for making an inner marginal cut in a sole and a normally inoperatively positioned knife for making an outer marginal cut me sole, means for feeding a sole past said knives, and means for retracting the first knife into inoperative position and advancing the second knife into operative position during the feed of the sole, said means being con structed and arranged to delay the retraction of the first knife'until after the second knife has been advanced into operative position.

20. In a channeling machine, a normally lowered inner lip forming knife, a normally raised outer lip forming knife, means for lowering the outer lip forming knife and thereafter raising the inner lip forming knife during operation in one locality in the margin of a sole, and for lowering the inner lip forming knife and thereafter raising the outer lip forming knife during operation in another locality in the sole margin.

21. In a channeling machine, a normally lcwered channel knife, a normally raised edge knife, and means operable first to raise the channel knife and lower the edge knife, and later to lower the channel knife and raise the edge knife, said means being constructed and arranged to delay the raising of the channel knife until after the edge knife has been lowered and to delay the raising of the edge knife until after the channel knife has been lowered.

22. In a channeling machine, a channel knife, an edge knife, and means for moving one of said knives into position to operate upon a sole and for withdrawing the other knife from operative position, said means being constructed and arranged to delay said movement of withdrawal knife carrier, two vertically movable knife slides mounted in said carrier, a channel knife carried by one of said slides, an edge knife carried by the other of said slides, cams mounted on said carrier for raising said slides independently of each other, and'operator-controlled means for operating said cams. FREDERIC E. BERTRAND.

Patent No. 1, 938, 682.

iiERTlilGATE or CORRECTION.

December 12, 1933.

FREDERIC E. BERTRAND.

it is hereby certified that error appears in the printed specification of the aheve numbered patent requiring correction as follows: Page 3, line 45, before "flap" insert the words and a channel; and that the said Letters Patent should he read with this correction therein that the same may conform to the record of the case in the Patent Office.

Signed and sealed this 20th day of February, A. D. 1934.

F. M. Hopkins (Seal) Acting Commissioner of Patents. 

